This HMS Mauritius [above] was the only British ship ever named such, even though Britain had had a 'working' relationship with the Island since 1810. She was operational from 'new build' in 1940 until 1952 winning many Battle Honours in WW2 [with a short period in the Reserve Fleet] when she paid-off and entered an eight and a half months refit destined for further operational service as the East Indies Flagship. However, after refit she was placed on the Reserve List and after seven years on that list ["rotting" after the short but expensive refit] she was placed on the Disposal List in 1960. She was finally broken-up in 1965 at Rosyth [Inverkeithing]. Not an impressive record given her clout and suitability for the duties of a Flagship [she had been the East Indies Flagship before paying off in 1952] being operational for twelve years, and non-operational for thirteen years. She was a FIJI class light cruiser with eleven ships in the class.
This story is about the second HMS Mauritius which was a shore station based on the Island of Mauritius. It was commissioned as such on the 19th March 1962 and decommissioned on the 31st March 1976, so virtually fourteen years.